JEDDAH, 4 July 2006 — The judge presiding over the dispute about salary deductions of medical interns at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz University (KAAU) has delayed issuing his verdict for another two weeks.
The final decision by the judge at the court of grievances was scheduled to be announced on Sunday morning. The judge is now waiting for the KAAU lawyer to present documents detailing when the university implemented the decision to make deductions from the salaries of students.
In an ongoing dispute between administrators and interns at the university, the students have been protesting for months KAAU’s decision to hastily implement a salary reduction announced by the Ministry of Higher Education.
“It is the first time I feel there is hope. Our dues will be returned and someone is really listening to us,” said one of the interns.
In the hearing the judge asked three interns, who were representing 400 fellow students of both genders, four questions. “Did the rest of the Kingdom’s interns started last September as you did? Did you ask for an explanation from your dean? Did you contact the ministry? Have you filed a suit at the court of grievances?”
The interns replied all questions in the affirmative.
The trouble began when the Ministry of Higher Education decided to reduce the interns’ allowances by 44 percent effective from September 2006. For unexplained reasons, the decision took effect much earlier at KAAU, which became the only institution to implement the decision so far.
The money deducted from the 400 interns of both sexes amounted to more than SR10 million. Some of the students thought that the money might be used for something they could benefit from.
